The Lone Swordsman

Part Three

By GreatAngemon

"You lost…" Link said, his eyes clouding with worry. Tears began to form in Elisa's eyes, until Link hurriedly added, "It's alright. It doesn't matter." He hugged her, hiding the worry in his face from her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I guess he took it from me when he picked me up."

"It's alright, Elisa. I already said that." He tucked a strand of hair behind her hair as he let her go, and said, "Look, how about you and I go into town. I'm kind of hungry and if I remember correctly my pantry isn't stocked very well."

Elisa jumped up, smiling, her attitude immediately improved. "Okay!" She ran away to the front of the house, and a second later Link heard the front door open. He chuckled as he followed.

When he entered the small house, he heard sounds of clothing flying in the bedroom. When he poked his head in through the door, a shirt flew over his eyes almost immediately. "Well, okay then," he said, feigning insult. "We'll be leaving in a couple minutes. I just need to change."

"Mo too!" Elisa cried, rummaging through drawers and under the bed. Link closed the door and headed into the kitchen. He lifted the rug in front of the pantry, showing a secret door. He lifted it, and a staircase was revealed. He grabbed a lantern from a hook on the wall of the tunnel and followed it, as it spiraled into the tree. Soon he came to the bottom, where he found a small bed, a chest and a closet filled with green, red and blue tunics.

He selected a fresh green tunic, slipped off the old one and replaced it with the clean one. He pulled a new hat out of the chest, and as he pulled it on his eyes fell on the picture next to his bed. In it were eight people; an old, rotund man, a giant made of stone, an exotic desert beauty, an elderly woman with short gray hair, a tall woman who looked to be half fish, a short girl with green hair, and in the center, with the others surrounding them, were two more people holding hands; a young man in a green tunic with blond hair, and a young woman with long auburn hair wearing a long pink gown.

"Zelda…" he murmured, "oh, how I miss you, Zelda." He picked up the Pictograph, stared longingly at it for a moment, then set it down and walked back up the staircase. "Elisa!" he called when he reached the top and had closed the secret door.

"Here I am!" Elisa screamed, jumping out of the bedroom. "How do I look?"

Link looked her up and down. She was wearing a light blue dress which made her blue eyes sparkle, and accented her blonde hair. "You look very pretty." She giggled, twirling her hair between her fingers.

"Thanks Link," she said. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out the front door. They climbed down the ladder and then she said, "It's a long walk to town. I wish I'd chosen something easier to walk in. Or that I had a horse."

"Your wish is my command," Link said. He opened a small pouch on his belt and pulled out an ocarina. He blew a short tune into it. They stood still for a moment, listening to the notes echo in the empty fields.

"What's supposed to happen?" Elisa asked, looking at the small blue instrument. Then they heard a neighing in the distance, followed by a clop-clopping noise.

"Epona," Link said when the horse approached them. He patted her on the nose, whispering into her ear.

"Wow," Elisa whispered, staring at the beautiful chestnut mare. "I didn't know you had a horse, Link."

"Yeah," Link said, barely knowing what he was saying. "I've had Epona since I was a kid, like you. Another dear friend gave her to me. She is one of my last links to my homeland. And she is my closest companion."

Elisa stepped closer to the mare, only for the horse to rear up and whinny in fear. "Hold on!" Link said sternly, grabbing the horse's reins and trying to calm her down. "Stay back, Elisa! Stay back!" Elisa did as he said, moving away from them both.

When Link finally got the horse back under control, she said, "Did I do something wrong?" She looked worriedly at Link and Epona.

"No," Link panted, stroking the horse's neck comfortingly, "Epona just doesn't like new people very much. But I think…" He turned to look at Elisa, then suddenly grabbed her under the arms, picked her up and swung her onto the horse's saddle. "Yes, I thought so. She'll let you ride her if I'm here."

He grabbed Epona's reins again and began leading the horse towards the town. After a few moments silence between them, Elisa said, "Link, will you tell me about where you came from?"

Link was silent for a while, and then he said in a quiet voice, "What do you want to know?"

"What was it like there? Were the people nice? Do you miss your friends?"

"Whoa, whoa," Link said, holding his hand up to silence Elisa. "I can only answer one question at a time. So let me try and answer your first one. My home was a beautiful country; lush fields, a beautiful lake, green forests… There were different peoples in each of the places. Goron's and Zora's, who are people that live in Termina, also lived there.

"The Goron's lived on Death Mountain, an active volcano in the north of my country. The Zora's lived in Lake Hylia, a crystal clear lake in the south. The forest was inhabited by a race of children who never grew up called the Kokiri. There was a desert to the west. It was the home of the Gerudo, a race where only one man is born every hundred years, so the race is mostly women.

"In the middle of the country was a castle, where the royal family lived. I also lived there, as a personal guest of one of its members." He sighed. "She was a great friend."

"The queen?"

Link looked up at the girl sitting on the horse. "Yes, she was the queen. She was a great ruler. Kind to her subjects and loyal to her country. We went through many hardships together."

They continued walking into the town, talking about Link's life in his previous home until they reached the restaurant.

~Lone Swordsman~

"Death Sword," said the high, cold voice.

"Yes, my liege?"

"Fetch me…King Bulbin."

"Your Majesty?" Death Sword whispered. "What do you need him for?"

"You have failed me, Death Sword. He is loyal. I will have him retrieve Link for me."

"But-" Death Sword began.

"Now." It was a soft hiss, but it carried more traces of threat than the loudest shout.

"Yes, sire."

~Lone Swordsman~

Link gripped Elisa's hand as they exited the restaurant. She was laughing hard at a story he had just told her and was having trouble walking, so Link had grabbed her hand and begun guiding her out. "Come on," he said, smiling. "We need to get back to the house."

"Okay," Elisa said, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. She continued giggling as Link helped her mount the chestnut mare, and only stopped after they had left the town far behind. She was just about to open her mouth to ask Link a question when they heard a crashing sound from behind them.

"Run!" a villager shouted, running past them. "King Bulbin is here!"

"King Bulbin…" Link said. His voice was worried, and his face dark and foreboding. "Elisa," he said, looking up at her, on the horse. "Take Epona. There's a cave just behind those trees. Hide in it. I will try and hold him off. I want you to go."

"But-"

"Go!" Link shouted, slapping the horse's rear. The horse gave a loud whinny and darted away.

"Link!" Elisa screamed. He drew the purple-hilted blade from the scabbard on his back, pulled off his shield, and ran back towards the town. Once safe in the trees, Elisa dismounted Epona, grabbed her reins and led her to the edge of the woods. She saw that many of the buildings were ablaze, and several villagers were being thrown around like toys.

"He'll be okay," Elisa whispered, more to herself than to Epona, who was breathing heavily. Just then, a scream broke the silence of the wooded area. It was a deep, blood-curdling scream.

"LINK!" Elisa shouted. She ran around the tree she was hiding behind, down the path and into the town. Once she reached the restaurant they had eaten at earlier, she saw Link lying in the dirt, his sword and shield lying a foot away from him on the ground. Standing over his prone figure was a monster.

The monster was enormous, even bigger than Death Sword. He had an enormous potbelly, and a small head with two horns emerging just above his ears. "L-leave him a-a-alone!" Elisa stuttered. She stepped between Link's figure and the monster, holding up her fists, trying to seem brave.

The monster gave a small, dark laugh before raising its weapon. It was hooked at the end, and dull on the back. It looked like it weighed a ton. "I will crush you, human-child."

It raised the massive blade above its head and swung it downward. Elisa closed her eyes, but didn't feel an impact on her body or the ground near her. Instead, she heard a loud, metallic clanging. Cracking her eyes open slightly, she saw Link standing in front of her, holding a shield above his head, the monster's weapon being held back by it.

"Get back," Link said through gritted teeth. Elisa did as she was told, running to the safety of the restaurant's doorway.

Link fell back, his shield flying from his arm. "Leave this town," Link said, snatching up his blade from the ground. "Leave this town, now. I am its guard. You will not touch it, or its residents."

"Die, human." The creature rushed at Link, swinging its massive blade. Quicker than the eye could see, Link sheathed his sword, drew and nocked his bow and fired an arrow straight at the monster. The arrow landed in its shoulder.

The monster screamed in pain. Roaring, it grabbed the shaft of the arrow, pulled it out and crushed it in two. Link re-drew his sword, twirled it lightly between his fingers, and said, "Yield or die, King Bulbin."

The monster roared again and charged once more at him. Link lifted his blade, knocking the creature's weapon aside. The monster fell forward onto his fat belly, groaning in pain. "I warned you," Link said, stepping towards the creature's head. He lifted his blade, and swung it down.

The creature's body seized up momentarily, but slumped-relaxed, even-as its head fell away from its shoulders and rolled on the ground. Link ran towards the girl huddled in the arched doorway of the restaurant.

A moment later, he embraced Elisa, cradling her head as she cried. "It's alright," he cooed. "He's gone." He hid from her the monster's head, which had rolled away from its body. "It's alright." Suddenly, he released the girl, raised his bow, and shot off three quick arrows.

One-by-one, three small creatures fell from the rooftops of nearby houses. Link approached one of them, who began crawling away, but Link grabbed it by its neck and lifted it off the ground. "Tell your Lord Zant," he said, his voice deadly, "that if he tries to hurt the people in this village, I will kill him. Tell him that from me."

He threw the creature hard against a wall, and it began to crawl away. Link walked back to Elisa, who was cowering in the restaurant's doorway.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go home."

~Lone Swordsman~

"Sire?"

"King Bulbin has failed me, Death Sword."

"Yes, Lord Zant."

"Bring me his head."

"Of course!" Death Sword rushed from the room.